Tag: Test Automation

While writing this article, I am worried & concerned. Not about this article, nah! But about the future of Software Testing and Software Testers in particular. Recently during an interview drive, I came across a bunch of (yes, maximum of them) so-called Software testers who don’t even know the basics of Software Testing. Leave alone the required practical experience. It felt sad that testers don’t even know the basic QA terminologies, didn’t understand its importance, take it too lightly as a career, are not willing to learn, etc. At one end industry is moving towards Automated QA and on the other hand here we are with a bunch of novice testers for whom even the foundations are shaky.

Agile, Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery methodologies have evolved in favor of delivering the software faster. Software Test automation blends perfectly with these methodologies for accelerating the time to market. But achieving a flawless test automation is same as preparing a delicious dish where essential ingredients play a vital role in the success.

An interesting and well-paid job can be found only in case you submit a job-winning resume. Technological boost has greatly contributed to the modern world and today it is out-of-date to write resumes on the sheet of paper with the pen. Obviously, it will be one of the first papers thrown by recruiters into the dustbin. If you apply for a decent vacancy in the reputable company, your resume should be outstanding both in content and design. That can be achieved with the help of modern online tools. Let’s see what tools can help you to present yourself in the modern and professional manner.

Test Automation framework plays a vital role in the success or failure of any software automation project. For testers – it forms the foundation to a successful career. Software Testing involves multiple components like application-under-test, test cases, test data, test environment, etc. and a good automation framework needs to take care of all of these. In our pursuit to explore the topic of automation frameworks, let’s get started with collating different aspects of software testing that are to be taken care when designing a Test automation framework.

“How comfortable are you designing an Automation Framework from scratch?” – The very first interview question for a QA/Testing job opportunity now-a-days. What should I say? I am really good at Functional Testing? Nah! There is no space for manual testers. You HAVE TO start learning Automation. And it’s not just about Automation scripting, interviews are more driven towards programming & building an automation framework. So here I am penning down my answers to all those automation interviews in a series of Automation Framework focused blogs. It’s high time, really!

Recently our article “Manual Testing Is NOT Dead, But Manual Testers Are!” got major traction on social channels and triggered a debate in the Testing community. Some say “I have been doing Manual Testing since a decade now, and I am alive” while others approve of the title. Whatever be the debate (or discussion), Manual testers are finding it really tough to cut through the current jobs market. Want a proof? Try an experiment by analyzing the humongous response to a job opportunity posted for Manual Testers with 3-8 years of experience. How to move forward in Software Testing career?

Purpose, noun, the reason for which something is done. Recently a discussion was started by one of the Testing co-blogger at LinkedIn “What drives Quality Assurance? What is the purpose of Software Testing?” A relevant discussion indeed. They say “If you’re not working with purpose, you’re doing it wrong.” This triggered me to put on the thinking hat and pen down my perspective of ‘Software Testing Goals’.

Defect Leakage is natural. It’s common. If you build a software, bugs will be there. Similarly even if you Test a software, you cannot prove their absence. But we can do our best to eliminate maximum of them. Typically in most of the projects even if you complete functional testing (system testing) without any time & cost constraints, still UAT team (Business) manages to catch some more bugs. Any idea why? There has to be something missing in the system test coverage. What is it?

Selenium WebDriver makes direct calls to the browser using each browser’s native support for automation. It support multiple browsers, operating systems and programming languages. What’s more? It’s FREE, ‘Open Source’ as we call it! Why do you think it’s so popular? 😉 Though Selenium Webdriver is at the epicenter of automated software testing, it is supported by different tools to make Automation Testing easy, effective & efficient – The Automation Galaxy of Selenium Webdriver tools!

Though Selenium doesn’t require extensive Java knowledge but still there is a set of basic Java programs that you should be able to write on-the-spot. Continuing on our Java interview series for Selenium Automation, this article covers five of the common Java programs frequently asked in the basic technical interview. The questions are easy, but don’t forget to mark these java-program in your to do list before attending any entry-level technical interview for Selenium automation testing.

Software Testing is a process of verifying and validating an application against the specified requirements, mostly functional requirements. The non-functional aspects of an application such as performance are considered only after functional. Testing a software for both functionality and performance becomes a value addition to its quality before its launch into the market.

There is no such statement as ‘I am now prepared for the interview‘. When facing a Testing interview no matter how many interview questions and answers you have gone through – there is always more to read Continuing on our Interview questions series, let’s see some more interesting FAQs related to Domain, Software requirements, Agile Kanban, Career in Testing, SMAC Testing, Automation and Selenium Webdriver.

I have a strong functional test experience but no automation. I ‘know’ automation testing but don’t have the project experience. I am a Test lead but didn’t write any automation scripts. Analytical & logical but never did project coding. Found in-numerous bugs but didn’t prepare automation reports. Managed a big team but didn’t learn performance testing. Documented every report but didn’t produce framework guides. Enjoyed exploratory tests but didn’t script pre-defined test cases. Helped BAs and even developers (in debugging) but never developed automation framework. Understood domain & application flows but didn’t write code. Open to learning but no opportunity. Self-learned programming & tools, but didn’t get practical project experience. Passionate about Software testing but now it’s Software Developer in Test.

Are you a Manual Tester? A Test Lead? Good in people’s management? Or Planning? Whatever! You still need to know the basics of programming and automation tool. You need not be a framework-developer, but every organization now wants a Software Tester who knows both functional test + automation scripting!

The Defect Severity (Technical) - In simple words, how severe is the defect for the application’s quality? Say you click on the ‘Help’ link and the application crashes. Whoaa! Bing-Bang Craaaashh..! Quite a severe defect, right?

The Defect Priority (Business) - In simple words, what is the precedence, importance or urgency to fix a defect? Say you click on the ‘Help’ link and the application crashes. Whoaa! Bing-Bang Craaaashh..! Quite a severe defect, right? But how many of us really click the ‘Help’ link? Business usage statistics show less than 2%. Now what do you think should be the urgency to fix a defect that impacts just the 2% of the end-users? Yeah! Not ‘High’ obviously. There would be other urgent defects to fix prior to this. Defect Priority defines the order in which defects should be fixed, i.e. its impact to the end-users, the business perspective.

About STS

Software Testing Studio is an attempt to share some incredible knowledge from industry leaders & experts, which should be helpful for anybody to start his/her career in ‘Software Testing’ or to progress it further. Apart from the technical nitty-gritties, one can also find some intellectual posts by industry experts sharing their Wisdom.